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IS FRACKING HERE TO STAY?

The power and importance of oil to our industrial world and to the United States is still of paramount importance. Without oil the gears of industry would grind to a halt. Fracking or the fracturing process is a relatively new way to extract oil particularly from shale oil, has allowed the United States to increase oil production substantially. Gas prices at the pump have gone down as our production has increased and our reliance on imported oil has decreased as a result.

Fracking is at a minimum controversial as it requires an injection of a lot of water with the use of some chemicals to complete the process. In a time of drought the use of water is problematic. The long-term impact of the heavy use of fracking is unknown as to the effect it will have on our communities, our environment and our daily lives. Is the use of chemicals dangerous to humans and our water supply? Does fracking cause earthquakes?

Fracking has huge societal implications. It is a human issue and it is part of a world-wide foreign policy problem that western countries have. While the world transitions to alternative energy sources, shale oil and the fracking process lessens our dependence on oil from the Middle East.

America is still addicted to oil. The oil lobby is the most powerful and influential lobby in the world. The oil industry provides jobs at a high wage and it keeps the engine of an Industrial Society humming.

Oil is really a national security issue. As long as we are dependent on oil countries from the Middle East can and will dictate our involvement in that part of the world. This is why it is doubtful that we will see an end to the use of fracking . Fracking allows us to produce a lot of oil from shale. As prices come down at the pump it is hard to see a huge outcry from the public on how the oil is being produced. If fracking benefits your pocket-book , fracking will most likely continue.

When Germany banned the use of fracking for their energy production that should be a warning to us as to its long term implications. But the draw of the North Dakota oil production and the riches that it promises will most likely drown out any concerns from the rest of us. Men and women can be darn selfish when it comes to the monthly budget and lower prices at the pump. I am afraid that in spite of the dangers that are fraught with our use of fracturing the rock that contains the oil from shale we will be dependent on that technology for a good while.

We should demand of our government the same degree of seriousness in guaranteeing a greater transitioning to solar and wind. Solar and wind require no bowing to the power of OPEC and those countries that are the primary producers of oil. We need to end their influence in our daily lives. We need to declare a new type of independence, and that is our dependence on countries that are not dependable. We will have far fewer wars and we will have more money in our pockets if we depend on the sun. No country will have the power to extort concessions from the United States if we are no longer dependent on oil. After all it does not cost any money to use the sun. It will end our need to go to war in order to maintain our standard of living.